Ponting Hails England's Rise To Pinnacle Of Test Rankings

London, Aug 15: Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has hailed England's ascendancy to the top of Test rankings after their recent thrashing of India at Edgbaston.

Ponting, who stepped down as captain earlier this year after becoming the only Australian skipper to lose three Ashes campaigns, believes that the English bowlers deserve most of the accolades for steering the team to the No. 1 Test status.

"England's bowling attack is the best in the world and they deserve to be ranked the best side in the world. I've been watching some of the England versus India Test series on TV and there's no doubt their bowling group is very, very good," Ponting was quoted as saying by the 'Daily Mirror'.

"As we witnessed first-hand last year, England's bowlers are going very well," he added.

England thrashed India by an innings and 242 runs in the third match to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-Test series at Edgbaston, with more than a day to spare, to replace India at the pinnacle of Test cricket and top the table for the first time since its creation in 2003. PTI